"The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek."
Joseph Campbell
My Story
I'm a strategist, activist and applied anthropologist. For thirty years I've studied how people and systems behave, and transformed that research into ecosystems that serve the communities closest to the issue.
My work lives where behavioral science, Indigenous epistemology and institutional systems design meet. I organize large scale research, lead focus groups, build research teams, and develop strategies that produce measurable outcomes, and I serve as a bridge between institutions and the people they hope to serve.
I lived and worked in East Africa for ten years. In Kenya, I led a nationwide audit of the dairy industry, gathering data that had never been collected; its recommendations were implemented within the same year, to the benefit of multinational buyers and smallholder farmers alike.
I organized the research team behind USAID's first scalable micro loan model, then built the brand and the entire ecosystem for its pilot, which was deployed around the world. In Rwanda, I co-authored women's rights legislation that was ratified into law and remains in effect today.
I've consulted for USAID, the US State Department, the United Nations, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, International Justice Mission, Lawyers Without Borders, DAI and TechnoServe, and for the governments of Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria.
For nearly a decade, I worked alongside Frank White, author of The Overview Effect. Together we designed the Human Space Program, a citizen authored blueprint for conscious space migration and stewardship of the solar ecosystem, and I served four years as its Executive Director.
As Chief Strategist of Space for Humanity, I designed the first Citizen Astronaut Training Program with Yale University and Paragon Performance, and trained two Blue Origin astronauts, Katya Echazarreta and Sara Sabry, the first Mexican and Egyptian women in space. Both are now internationally recognized leaders advancing space access and STEM education.
My Focus Today
Today my focus is the integration of Indigenous intelligence into the systems shaping our shared future, particularly AI ethics and healthcare education.
In January 2025, I joined MIT Critical Data as a speaker and workshop facilitator on "Weaving Ways of Knowing: Indigenous, Ancestral, and Religious Wisdom and Medical Education," and since November 2025 I've worked with the lab as a research collaborator on AI ethics and the integration of Indigenous values into healthcare education and practice.
I'm the founder and CEO of Passage Collective, the work I've been developing for more than a decade. Passage creates pathways for Indigenous intelligence to guide how technologies evolve and how leaders think, including the Coherence Protocol, an ethical certification framework that translates Indigenous values into operational standards for AI, economic systems and institutional governance.
I'm also the co-founder and CEO of ALVARA: ancient symbiotic intelligence, crafted to restore the biological foundation where lifeforce flows abundantly. Alongside both, I'm conducting independent research mapping 65,000 years of human migration against Indigenous wisdom traditions.
I volunteer as Chief Strategist for two nonprofits, Kaiāulu and Coherence Lab. I co-wrote Wisdom Meets Passion with New York Times bestselling author Dan Miller, and I've taught and spoken at MIT, Vanderbilt, Belmont, Bradley, The DO Lectures, Leaders Quest, Human Tech Week and the Humans to Mars Summit.
Most of all, I'm a devoted single father of four phenomenal humans. They're my greatest contribution to a more harmonious world, and my greatest teachers.
Kigali, Rwanda 2009
My Mission
To shine so bright that it liberates the light in others.
I believe in the promise of symbiosis in every interaction. We can work together to create a world that celebrates our uniqueness, prioritizes our unity, and harmonizes our relationship with the natural world.
I wake up every day with the unyielding faith that all of this is possible and that my work is contributing to that reality.
I have faith that there is always a third way.
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Wisdom Meets Passion: When Generations Collide and Collaborate
Today we face a unique dichotomy between the wisdom of the Baby Boomer generation and the passion of Generation Y. According to Wisdom Meets Passion, the question is not which is right, but rather how can the two work together?
Wisdom, meet passion. Passion, wisdom.
View on Amazon →
In 2018, I wrote this eBook to help people understand the true nature and potential of philanthropy.
Clarify your path, amplify your impact, and discover the deep joy of philanthropy.
ʻOhana
My Family
There’s nothing more important to me than my family.
They are what drives me, the rudder on the ship.
I’m blessed with 4 children.
One adopted, three biological. All my children.
Ranging in age from 11 - 32 (as of 2026).
And I have twins. A girl and a boy.
They are my journey-mates.
My students.
My guides.
My Lions
These are a few of my favorites from the earlier years. They’re the best part of me.
My father passed away on January 21, 2024. I was given the honor of being his “Death Doula”, and walking him home. It was the most challenging journey I’ve ever taken, and also the greatest honor of my life.
I’m writing an ongoing series on my Blog called, Walking My Father Home. This journey has reshaped my world. It’s part of me now.
Walking My Father Home
click on the image to read the first postMy Initiatives
These are the initiatives I’m contributing to today.
The Passage journey began in 2015 after moving back to the US for the first time in 12 years. It’s the culmination of the things I care about most.
In late 2025 I launched ALVARA. Ancient symbiotic intelligence, crafted to restore the biological foundation where lifeforce flows abundantly.
Since 2019 I have served as the Cheif Strategist at Kaiāulu and Coherence Lab. It’s one of my greatest honors in life.
Blog + Newsletter
Visit & Subscribe
These days, I post my writings on my Beehiiv blog. You can view it ON THE SITE and/or subscribe to have it come into your inbox when I make updates.
Public Articles
From time to time, I post more publicly focused articles on activism and some of my work in conscious space exploration, environmental preservation, Indigenous perspectives, antiracism, and other aspects of humanity on my Medium Blog.
From March 9th, 2017 to December 11th, 2019, I hosted my own podcast, Noetic. I loved it, and hope to go back to it.
The episodes are timeless lessons and stories.
THE NOETIC PODCAST IS FOR SEEKERS, THINKERS, AND DOERS THAT CARE DEEPLY ABOUT THE VITALITY OF HUMANITY AND OUR PLANET.
View & Subscribe to my Blog.
View my blog page on Beehiiv and/or subscribe to receive updates in your inbox. I post a few times per month.